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I nod. “Hey, the more the merrier.”
“Hot diggity dog.” Then he stops. “Maybe I should have a hot dog.”
“Let’s pay for your things, then we can go.”
I move to go pay for them, but Everly stops me. “It’s on the house. New neighbors and all.”
I’m touched. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t, but I want to.”
“Well, thank you so much. Kids, what do you say?”
They both thank Everly, then we promise to be back in the next couple of weeks.
“You don’t mind a baby, do you?” Carter says, grabbing the diaper bag from Everly.
“Not at all,” I say. “I love babies.”
He gives me a look, then leans closer. “Wanna hold her?”
“Yes,” I practically shout. He hands her over with a chuckle. Esme smiles up at me.
“You’re a natural.”
I chuckle. “After having those two around by myself, I learned a lot.”
It hits me a second later. I mean, most people know I lost Sam while I was pregnant with Sammy, but he wasn’t around much for Callie, either. I think he was there about half of her life, so it always felt like I was by myself.
There is a charged silence, then Carter cocks his head. As he opens his mouth to start asking me questions, Avery steps in and saves the day.
“There is a rumbly in my tummy. I need a milkshake.”
Carter’s attention span seems to be even shorter than Avery’s. “Hot dang,” he says, clapping his hands. “That sounds like a plan.”
We gather up the kids and head out to the diner.
ChapterFourteen
LIV
Monday morning arrives faster than I want it to. I love work, but it’s been a long time since I’ve moved, and I didn’t do it with two kids and a dog. Also, I have another kid in the house, but at least Avery’s watching my kids for the next three weeks before the summer camp starts.
I get to the office before eight, get the coffee going, and turn on my computer. Travis and Nancy are hometown folks who just happen to have the biggest home improvement show on the air right now. When they decided to diversify, they wanted to do it in Juniper Springs.
Now that the business is taking off, they needed a new office manager, and that’s where I come in. I know being an office manager might seem boring to most people, but I excel at it. The years I spent as a military wife taught me to plan for just about anything.
Once I have my coffee, I sit down to get to work. By lunchtime, Travis and Nancy have made it into the office.
“So, what you’re telling me,” Nancy says, her mouth curving and her eyes dancing with amusement, “is that Travis sucks all the balls at his record-keeping.”
Nancy might look cute with her sparkling blue eyes and her hair in a ponytail, but she isn’t a pushover.
“Yeah. I need you to turn in your receipts. The ones we need to handle. I don’t care about anything that has to do with your show. Let theAt Homeaccounting department worry about that. But here in this office, I want your receipts. We need to make sure we keep up-to-date with our accounting.”
My stomach decides that moment is an excellent time to gurgle. I roll my eyes.
“Oh, hey, let’s go to lunch. That’s the main reason we’re here,” Travis says.
